Students are seldom excited about the costs that accompany their education. Certain fine arts majors may have even less to be thrilled about this semester.
“I’m a student,” said Sarah Hendrich, 21, majoring in photography and film. “I can’t afford to be spending $450 on a program bundle I won’t even be legally allowed to use once I graduate.”
Jacob Dodd, assistant professor of animation and film, is quite familiar with the way profitable institutions operate.
“Companies and academic programs are definitely pushing towards the fast way of doing things,” Dodd said.
Granted, you don’t have to buy Adobe Creative Suite to perform well in the darkroom. Yet, photography and film and kinetic imaging majors both require this bundle. The list price is $1,699 for the Production Premium version. The student price is a mere fraction of the cost – $450.
The problem, Dodd said, is the cost of student bundles might not be as good as it seems.
“The reason Adobe is able to offer you this great price is because they know they can just charge you full price for the program once you enter the professional world. As it stands, it is illegal to make a profit off of a student version,” he said.
On the other hand, offering the program for less at first might not be the best thing for students in the long run.
“If (the companies) do too much, they may not really be preparing you to manage a budget,” Dodd said.
While students might be able to afford the software, a price tag of “free” holds more appeal to just about anyone.
“The unfortunate thing is because of the high cost, it pushes students down an illegal avenue,” Hendrich said. “People are online all the time now looking for programs and serial numbers.”
Andrew Callahan, a junior majoring in kinetic imaging, said piracy and even burglary are rampant throughout his own department.
“I’d say about more than half the students in (kinetic imaging) have illegal versions,” he said. “People have even walked out with the RAM (random access memory) from the computers.”
– – –
As we rocket through the digital age, the film and photography faculty is grappling with the inevitable inclusion of computers in the classroom and considering the possible phasing out of the darkroom.
“Companies and academic programs are defi nitely pushing towards the fast way of doing things,” said Dodd.
This holds especially true in the photography and film department, where the faculty and student body find themselves at a crossroads about how to deal with the crucial dilemma: analog or digital?
Hendrich has logical concerns with the decisions her department has made.
“This is personally distressing because my photography heroes tend to be those who produce masterful black-and-white silver gelatin prints,” Hendrich said. “If everyone is going digital and anyone who picks up a digital camera these days can call themselves a photographer, then wouldn’t mastery of the darkroom elevate your art to something more rare and beautiful?”
The cost of digital technology seems great when you consider upgrades and new programs constantly hitting the market.
“From a marketing perspective, digital technology is about as self-perpetuating as cigarettes,” Hendrich said. The kinetic imaging department, which does not use the darkroom, has embraced the use of computers in the classroom.
“Without (the software), there would be no kinetic imaging department,” said Andrew Callahan, 20, a junior majoring in kinetic imaging.
Ultimately, the issue comes down to efficiency.
“Analog is a lot riskier than digital because of the possibility of complications in the darkroom and the fact that you’re working with one version,” Callahan said.
The ecological perspective might also be lending a hand in the move to digital. Tracie Taylor, program coordinator of the photography and film department, admits that while she loves the darkroom, ultimately the decision might be in the hands of the Environmental Protection Agency.
“I’m an analog person … every time I go to print, I’m using a new paper because of the EPA,” Taylor said. “My biggest fear is that they could come in any day … and say, ‘The chemicals are going to have to go.’ ” In addition to the cost concerns, environmental issues are taking more precedent as time goes on.
“That’s what is going to catch up with us one of these days,” Taylor said.